


I Solemnly Swear

by fandom_life11



Series: Up To No Good [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fuck You JK Rowling, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Era, Hogwarts First Year, Hufflepuff, Love comes later, M/M, Magic, Mainly Wolfstar, Marauders, Orion Black's A+ Parenting, POV Alternating, Pranks, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Sirius Black is my baby, Sirius and Regulus behave like brothers, Slytherin, The Marauders - Freeform, Walburga Black's A+ Parenting, Witches, Wizards, Young Marauders, before harry, between the marauders, different from cannon, eventual love, jily, marauder era, minnie mcgonagall is the only acceptable adult in the hp world, school years, she could hit me with a bus and i would thank her, slight abuse, slight jily, they have a brotherly bond, wolfstar, you can pry this from my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-02-08 05:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_life11/pseuds/fandom_life11
Summary: In the beginning, there were four. Four friends, four roommates, four students, four pranksters, four teachers' nightmares. They were the marauders. Their first year at Hogwarts goes by without too much excitement, other than the fact that they meet.
Relationships: James Potter & Peter Pettigrew, James Potter & Remus Lupin, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Up To No Good [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557355
Comments: 39
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter One

On a hot summer’s day, four boys received a letter. The letter did not arrive by mail. Instead, it came from an owl. From the outside, the letter did not look different from any other letter one would receive. After all, it was just a letter with green ink and a slightly odd seal on the back of it. However, it was the inside of the letter that mattered. Those few words inside told those boys where they would spend the next 7 years of their young lives. And each of those boys took this letter as a symbol. A symbol of what was to each his own.

Freedom. That was all Sirius could think of when he saw the letter engraved with the Hogwarts seal. Once he stepped foot into the Great Hall, his parents would no longer have control over what he did. If he made a mistake, chances were they wouldn’t find out. He could be himself, his true self, not the stuffy, pompous, entitled, rich boy he was told to be. 

His father, Orion Black, opened the letter at breakfast. After silently reading the letter, he nodded his head. Sirius knew that was going to be the only approval he ever got from him. Orion passed the letter to Sirius’ mother, Walburga Black, whose mouth was forever set in disapproval. 

She read it once and looked over at Sirius. “Come on boy. We are going to Diagon Alley after breakfast.”

Sirius nodded his head to show his understanding. His parents never liked it when he spoke at breakfast. He could still feel the bruises from the last time he dared to speak. However, for some reason he felt his voice begging to say something.

“May I please see the letter Mother?” he asked quietly. Immediately, he wished he could take the words away.

Silence. No one spoke for a moment. His younger brother, Regulus, looked up at him with wide eyes. Then, his mother came over to him and slapped his face, hard, with her rings hitting his cheek. Sirius’ face was sent reeling back and he knew the spots where her rings hit would bruise.

Mercifully, before anything else happened, his father spoke. “Go to your room Sirius. Your mother cannot stand the sight of your face any longer, and frankly, neither can I. Because of this, Kreacher will be taking you to Diagon Alley. There will be no room for your frivolous behavior, am I understood?”

“Yes Father,” Sirius replied, thankful his punishment wasn’t worse, and headed upstairs to his room.

Adventure. James Potter loved his parents, he really did, but being an only child made things quite boring and lonely at times. Anything he asked for was given to him with a gentle warning not to blow the neighbor’s backyard up again. There was only so much an 11 year old could do before he got bored. 

And so when the letter arrived, James was beyond excited. He was going to be in a brand new place in just 7 months! There would be so many places to explore, so many pranks to pull, and of course, so many friends to make. He was going to make sure James Potter was a name you would remember once he was through with Hogwarts. He was sure of it.

A chance. A chance to make friends. A chance to show his mother he wasn’t a squib. A chance to show his sister she was right to help him. At the young age of 11, Peter Pettigrew knew that his mother cared more about his perfect older sister, Enid, to ever think of believing or supporting him. After all he was just Peter, the boy who never stood up for anything, the boy everyone thought was a mistake.

The only person who had ever stood up for Peter was Enid. Enid was the reason Peter’s mother hadn’t thrown him out of their humble home. That was why Peter was ready for Hogwarts. He was ready to prove to everyone, including himself, that he wasn’t nothing. That he had deserved his sister’s support. Everything Peter ever did was for Enid. She deserved this much. And so Peter grabbed onto that chance as hard as he possibly could. He was ready.

A new, fresh start. That was what Remus was thinking about when he read the letter that had arrived instead of the regular Daily Prophet article. With this new place to stay, Remus would make sure that no one knew what he truly was. A monster. Dumbledore himself had come by to tell the Lupins that all preparations had been made for every full moon Remus would ever spend in Hogwarts.

One look at his father’s face, though, had Remus considering the fact that he might not be going off to Hogwarts in September. It was hard for Remus to forget that his father had told him that no one would ever be proud of what he was. He was a nobody, a monster. It was a miracle that he had lived this long without any consequences. At least, that’s what his father always said.

His mother, on the other hand, was the best person Remus had the privilege of knowing in his short meager life. It was also because of her that Remus was even going to Hogwarts on September 1. Hope Lupin did not approve of her husband’s ways, especially when they hurt her son. And that was why she stood up to Remus’ father. Remus watched in awe of her as she told Lyall Lupin that if he did not let Remus go to Hogwarts, there would be severe consequences. After all, she reminded Remus’ father, it was his fault in the first place that Remus was so lonely and scared of reaching out to other people. It had been Lyall’s fault that Fenrir Greyback had come into their home and bitten Remus. Remus’ mother had never forgiven Lyall for that.

And so, his father agreed to let Remus go as long as he remembered the rules. Remus would never forget the rules and there was a high chance that he would break some of those rules at Hogwarts but he agreed to them all the same.

Rule one: no friends. If anyone became too close with Remus, they could find out about his secret. That was not something that could be done. No one could find out.

Then there was rule two: no one could find out. It was quite obvious but Remus knew his father wasn’t taking any chances.

And finally, rule three: good grades. That one was something Remus had planned on doing anyway, but he just smiled and nodded at his father.

There was no way Remus would ever follow rule one. He had been alone for too long and it wasn’t like his father was going to be there to find out. And if those friends found out his secret, so be it. He would protect his secret, but Remus knew that he would rather have friends who betray him than be lonely any longer. After all, Hogwarts was his new, fresh start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi and welcome to my first story! Thank you for reading it and this note. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This story will later become part of a series called Up To No Good. As you may have noticed, Sirius and Remus' point of views will be longer than the others. This is because this series is primarily a wolfstar fanfiction. Later on, the chapters will only have one or two point of views, not all four. Good day and see you at the next chapter! Please leave a comment to tell me how the story's going and what you would like to see. Thanks.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The marauders are finally on the Hogwarts Express! What could happen? But more importantly, who will they meet?

It was now September 1 and Sirius couldn’t deny the nerves he felt in the pit of his stomach. He was really going to leave 12 Grimmauld Place. At 11 o’clock today, he was going to be free.  
A few weeks earlier, he had gone to Diagon Alley. There, he had shopped for everything he would need. All his books were in his trunk, as well as many more side reading books. He had his robes, his materials, and his cat, Lyra. Lyra was a cute, black cat with green eyes that Sirius knew he was going to love forever. Because the Black family had its own personal owl, Sirius was allowed the privilege of receiving a pet. And finally, Sirius had his wand.  
His wand. Sirius had not been in possession of his wand for long, and yet, he was already in love with it. It was a 13 inch wand, with its wood being hawthorn and its core was made up of dragon heartstring. On three sides of the wand, it had runes that Sirius was determined to figure out.  
Sirius was at King’s Cross with his father and mother, waiting for 11 o’clock to hit. Regulus was left at home as this was a “moment only the heir and his parents could experience.” In other words, Regulus was not trusted enough for what Sirius’ parents were going to tell him.  
“Are you ready for this?” Sirius’ father asked him as they stood in the back of the station, waiting for the train.  
Sirius nodded. “Yes father.”  
Without looking at him, his mother sniffed and said, “Enjoy the cold. The Slytherin common room is full of it.”  
Slytherin. Of course that was what his parents wanted him to be in. Ever since he was a little boy, his parents had only talked about Slytherin. It was the only house fit for the Blacks, they said. And so, that meant that it was the only house fit for Sirius.  
What his parents didn’t know however, was that Sirius didn’t feel Slytherin. He wasn’t particularly shrewd or cunning or even that ambitious. Besides, he wasn’t evil and Slytherin was where the bad kind of evil went. If there was such a thing as good evil, it definitely wasn’t in Slytherin. It was a place for the worst of the worst. A place where only true followers of the Dark Arts, and by that, the mysterious Dark Lord Sirius’ parents kept talking about when they thought he wasn’t listening. Sirius didn’t know what house he belonged to but he hoped it wasn’t there.  
By the time Sirius had thought through every horrible thing that could happen to him at Hogwarts, it was time to board. As he turned around to say goodbye to his parents, he saw their stern faces and settled for a slight incline of his head. A Black never showed feelings to others. That was one of the many things he had learnt in Grimmauld Place from his mother.  
As he started walking away, a cold, firm hand grabbed his arm and pulled him back. It was his father. “Do not shame this family Sirius. If you do… you know the consequences.” The only thing Sirius could do in return was nod once more, grab his chest and cage for Lyra, and walk toward Hogwarts Express.  
When he stepped onto the train, he walked to the back of the train instead of where his cousins Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa would be. There, he found an empty compartment and settled in. He pulled out a book and began his struggle of reading. Not many people knew this, but Sirius had dyslexia. His parents did not call it anything other than a disease or proof of his inability to be heir. They had beaten him enough for it that he no longer told anyone that he had it.  
The train began to move. As it started to leave the station, a boy ran into Sirius’ compartment breathlessly. Sirius looked up and put his book away. He waited until the boy had regained his breath and extended his hand poshly, saying, “Hello, my name is Sirius. What’s yours?”  
A Black did not have friends, Sirius remembered his mother telling him. Sirius knew this was something he had to follow or face consequences at home. If he could not have friends though, perhaps he could have allies. Someone to help aide him in his destiny.  
The boy smiled brightly, pushed his glasses up his nose, and shook Sirius’ outstretched hand. “Hi! I’m James Potter,” the boy said.

The most important day of James’ life started with him waking up late. An hour late to be precise. Because of this unfortunate predicament, James only had 45 minutes to pack and get to King’s Cross Station before the train left without him.  
Luckily, he made it on time with just about a minute to spare. And so, he gave a quick kiss to his parents who had begun to cry, promised to write them letters, and dashed off with his trunk.  
The train started moving just as he got on and James began to look for a compartment to sit in. However, everywhere he looked was full. Either that or the people inside the compartments gave James a single glare before he ran off looking for a different seat.  
Eventually, James reached the back of Hogwarts Express. He knew that if he didn’t find a seat here, he would have to go back and ask some of the horrible students for a seat. The first compartment in the back was full, just like every other one. The last compartment, however, only had one person in it.  
The boy inside was reading a book and his eyebrows were slightly creased, as if concentrating hard. James wondered why no one was sitting with him, as he seemed like a perfectly reasonable student. Perhaps he could be James’ first new friend! How exciting would that be, finding his best friend for life on the way to Hogwarts. He could already picture it now; he and the boy pranking everyone, being in the same house, sleeping in the same room, telling each other midnight secrets, and of course having lots of fun.  
After realizing he had been standing in the hallway for at least 5 minutes, James ran inside breathlessly and smiled at the boy. The boy looked up, startled, as if he hadn’t realized James had been there to begin with. He waited until James had regained his breath and stuck out his hand. He had the air of a posh person but James didn’t dwell on it as he smiled brightly. The boy wanted to know him! It truly was meant to be.  
“Hello, my name is Sirius. What’s yours?” the boy, now named Sirius, said with a faint smile on his face.  
James smiled even brighter, pushed up his glasses again, and shook Sirius’ hand vigorously. “Hi! I’m James Potter.”  
There had been at least 10 minutes of silence before James got bored and started talking to Sirius, who was back to reading his book. James still didn’t know what the book was, so he figured it was a good place to start.  
“What book are you reading there Sirius?”  
Sirius looked up slowly and said, “Quidditch through the Ages.”  
James gasped in excitement. “You like Quidditch too? We should train together, even if we don’t get sorted into the same house! Who’s your favorite team? Mine is the Appleby Arrows, but to each his own I guess.”  
Sirius looked taken aback by James’ sudden enthusiasm. He looked down at his book almost wistfully and put it back into his bag. “I’ve never played Quidditch before, so you probably wouldn’t want to train with me. I guess I like it. From what I’ve heard, it sounds pretty cool. My favorite team would have to be the Holyhead Harpies.”  
Shocked, James continued to pry, “How do you not like Quidditch? It’s only the best game in the world!”  
“I don’t know about that. I personally find Exploding Snap quite enjoyable. Besides, my parents aren’t the best when it comes to fun,” Sirius said, laughing when he saw the look on James’ face.  
James frowned a little at Sirius’ last sentence. What parent didn’t let their kid have fun and play Quidditch? It was part of a child’s life! At least, that’s what James thought on this important matter. He did however agree with Sirius’ statement about Exploding Snap. It was an amazing game full of suspense and James loved to play it. In fact, he had a deck of their cards in his bag. What a coincidence!  
James took out the cards and gave them a little shuffle. “Would you like to play with me Sirius?”  
Grinning, Sirius took the cards from James’ hands and showed off by doing a fancy shuffle that left James speechless. “Of course!”  
“Right then. I’m assuming you know the rules then?” With a confirming nod from Sirius, James continued. “I hope you’re good. I’ve been needing a little challenge. Of course, we do need a bet before we play.”  
“No, we don’t. I’ll just shuffle the cards and we’ll play Bavarian Snap. It’s the hardest Exploding Snap there is and will definitely satisfy your need for a challenge. That is, if you’re not afraid of losing?”  
James was shocked Sirius had even thought he was scared. He was James freaking Potter, thank you very much. He did not back down, no matter the challenge. “Deal those cards and watch me win.” he rubbed his hands eagerly, already knowing the game would be an exciting one.  
It was. That one game had turned into 3 games, which turned into 7, which turned into 20 games of Exploding Snap. They only stopped because of the sweet, old lady who offered them some sweets from her trolley. Because they had both been singed too many times to count, they agreed to stop and for a few minutes nothing could be heard apart from them devouring their sweets.  
Finally, they both finished and continued their discussion of pranks. James was glad he had met Sirius because he seemed to understand James in a way no one else had. James’ parents were amazing, but they were his parents. He couldn’t tell them everything or complain to them. That was why Sirius was so great. James felt like they had known each other for years.  
Around this time, their compartment door opened slightly. They both looked at it, as the door hadn’t been opened since the trolley lady. Unfortunately, it was not the trolley lady. Instead, it was small, rounder than most boys, kid who looked to be around their age.  
“Sorry to intrude, but my sister was being quite rude and I was hoping you would let me sit with you for the rest of the train ride.” Sirius and James looked at each other before nodding.  
James smiled kindly. “What’s your name? I’m James Potter and this is Sirius.”  
Looking quite relieved if James said so himself, the boy, name still unknown to the newly minted best friends, sat down next to James. “I’m Peter. Peter Pettigrew. It’s nice to meet you guys.”  
James found Peter a little boring, after all, all he talked about was his sister or how happy he was for getting into Hogwarts.  
“My mum’s been quite worried, you now. I never showed any accidental magic as a kid, so she worried I had taken after my dad. He’s a muggle you see. He never knew anything about the wizarding world until Enid got her letter to Hogwarts.”  
At first, it was endearing, but now James could see Sirius losing interest. It had been at least 6 minutes of this and so James decided to change the topic. “What do you think your Hogwarts house will be?”  
Peter looked shocked that James was talking to him but nevertheless he responded, “I’m not really sure where I would go. My sister is in Ravenclaw, but I know I’ll never be able to go there. As long as it’s not Slytherin I’ll be fine.” James noticed Sirius looked a little sick at the statement but he didn’t call it to attention. It wasn’t like he thought he was going to go to Slytherin, right? James shuddered. What a horrible thought. No one in their right mind would consider Slytherin as a house to go into. It was an evil house. Everyone knew that.

Peter didn’t know where he would end up on the Hogwarts Express. Luckily, Enid offered him a place in her compartment with her friends. He tried to convince himself that it was going to be fun and that all of Enid’s friends would eventually become his friends too, never mind the fact that they were all in fourth year and he was a new first year.  
And at first it was fun. Things were going well until one of Enid’s friends said a comment about a squib and Enid responded with a scathing comment about him.  
“Yeah, everyone thought Peter was a squib. I mean, he never showed any accidental magic, so everyone thought he was useless. No one needs a witch or wizard who can’t do magic,” she had said.  
It had hurt Peter because he had thought Enid was the one person who would have stood by him when everyone else didn’t. Instead, she went ahead and said some quite rude things about him and thought he would be okay with it. He wasn’t.  
Peter said a quick goodbye to Enid, struggled for a moment with his trunk and left his compartment. He just hoped that there would be some room somewhere else. It would be so embarrassing if he had to walk back to Enid’s compartment and ask for his spot back.  
As he left the compartment, he heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Enid’s saying, “Gosh, what a relief. He was starting to get on my nerves.”  
Holding back tears that threatened to fall, Peter pushed his way through people standing in the hallway and started looking. Everyone he asked told him the same answer, no. It wasn’t until he had come to the last two compartments that he started to worry about having to head back to Enid’s compartment. The first one had the same answer as usual, but the very last compartment only had two boys in it. They had four seats open for anyone to take them! And so, Peter opened the door and pushed himself inside.  
The boys both looked up surprised. They looked to be about his age. Steeling his nerves he said, “Sorry to intrude, but my sister was being quite rude and I was hoping you would let me sit with you for the rest of the train ride.”  
The boys looked at each other before the one with glasses and messy hair smiled and replied, “What’s your name? I’m James Potter and this is Sirius.” The other boy, Sirius, just nodded his head at Peter.  
Peter grinned in relief and sat down next to James. “I’m Peter. Peter Pettigrew. It’s nice to meet you guys.” James and Sirius just smiled slightly at that.  
It had been a while and neither James nor Sirius had spoken a single word, so Peter decided to do the one thing he did best: rambling. “My mum’s been quite worried, you now. I never showed any accidental magic as a kid, so she worried I had taken after my dad. He’s a muggle you see. He never knew anything about the wizarding world until Enid got her letter to Hogwarts.” He just kept talking until it was obvious that Sirius was quite bored and James was beginning to be the same. Instead of stopping like a normal person, Peter continued.  
Eventually, it was obvious James was done because he said, “What do you think your Hogwarts house will be?”  
It was directed at him and Peter was shocked that James had even considered talking to him, considering how much he rambled.  
Not one to keep a person waiting, Peter replied with a simple, “I’m not really sure where I would go. My sister is in Ravenclaw, but I know I’ll never be able to go there. As long as it’s not Slytherin I’ll be fine.”  
James nodded in reply, before perking up and saying, “Oh! I want to be in Gryffindor. Everyone in my family has been in Gryffindor, so I can’t just let them down, can I? Of course they would never not be proud of me, but I think they would be slightly disappointed. After all, I’m the legacy.” He took a deep breath and continued. “I agree with you Peter on the Slytherin part though. Anyone sorted into that house turns evil and loony. There’s been only one good person in Slytherin and that’s Merlin.” He turned to Sirius. “What house do you want to be in? I can’t believe I haven’t asked you this yet.”  
Sirius looked slightly uncomfortable with all the sudden attention but nevertheless responded in a posh voice. Peter had never heard any sound like it. It was smooth and firm. Soft but commanding. It was unlike anything Peter had ever heard and he liked Sirius’ voice very much. It was different, just like what was to come in the future. “I haven’t really had any time to think about it, to be honest with you. I don’t think I could be in Hufflepuff. I’m not exactly a kind and loyal person.”  
James shook his head. “You are a very nice person. But I do have to agree. You wouldn’t really fit in Hufflepuff.”  
All of a sudden a boy came into the compartment with a tiny, red blush on his face. “We’re nearly at Hogwarts, and the conductor wants me to tell everyone to change into their uniforms.” Almost immediately, he started to turn away and leave.  
“Hang on mate. You can’t leave without telling us your name! How else are we supposed to recognize you and become friends?” James said, holding his hand out to stop the boy. “I’m James Potter.” Peter admired the way James had bravely said something and not just mutter a thank you and let the poor boy walk back to his own compartment.  
The boy, who was yet to be named, turned around. He quietly whispered, “My name is Remus Lupin and I doubt you would want to be friends with me. Goodbye.” With that he turned and left Peter and the others to get changed into their Hogwarts robes.  
“What was that? Are we really that horrible?” Sirius asked. Peter just shook his head because he definitely did not know why Remus had walked away. All Peter knew was that he knew being with James and Sirius was never going to be boring.

By the time Remus got back to his own compartment in the front, he was a stuttering mess. First there were those horribly rude fourth years who made fun of his drab and holey robes. It wasn’t his fault his parents could only afford second hand clothing. Then, there had been those fussy girls who kept cooing over him and didn’t understand the meaning of personal space. And while both of those instances had scared him in some way or form, it had been the very last encounter that made him want to tear his hair out. Even though they were just 3 boys, probably the same age as him, he couldn’t stop wanting to leave the room. Maybe it was because of the rules or maybe it was because of something else. Perhaps he didn’t want to face the possibility of making friends but losing them when they eventually found out about his imperfections. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the only boy who spoke, James Potter, found him. If that were to come, he would be prepared. He would bribe the boy with grey eyes or the chubby little boy to keep James away from him. Hopefully it would work. He knew it wouldn’t. Who was he kidding? He was Remus Lupin. Bad luck just always seemed to follow him.  
With all the worrying Remus did, he successfully managed to not notice them arrive at Hogwarts. It took the sweet, red haired girl next to him a few tries to snap him out of his thoughts.  
Once Remus stepped out of the train and onto the platform, he was in love. This place was unlike anywhere he had ever been, and if this was just the station for the Hogwarts Express, Remus couldn’t wait to be in Hogwarts itself.  
All of a sudden, a tall, elderly looking man came up to the platform wearing some billowing robes, and shouted, “First years! First years come near me! First years!” over and over again until it became clear that only the first years remained on the platform.  
The man looked around once and then smiled at the children before him. “Hello, I’m Ogg and I’ll be taking you to Hogwarts. Follow me and please be careful! No one wants to trip and fall into the lake this time of year.”  
After a few minutes, they arrived at the edge of a lake. Ogg waited for everyone to quit moaning before saying, “Alright! Get into a boat. Only four are allowed in each!”  
With those words, the crowd surged forward towards the boats and Remus was left to be one of the last to get in. When he had finally pushed his way through the crowd, there were only two boats remaining. He could either sit in Ogg’s boat and be the teacher’s pet, or he could sit in a boat with three boys. Naturally, he chose the boat with the boys. It was only until Remus had sat in the boat and the boats had begun to take off that he looked closely at the other boys. With rising dread and horror, he realized it was James Potter, grey eyes, and chubby boy.  
Sensing his horror, grey eyes stuck out his hand and said, “Hello Remus. My name is Sirius.”  
Remus slowly shook Sirius’ hand, marveling at the fact that Sirius seemed to want to know him. No one had ever shown any interest in him apart from James on the train. Rule one was going to be broken very soon, Remus would make sure of that.  
The rest of the trip on the boat was spent awkwardly staring at each other while James and Peter babbled on, completely oblivious. Their boat turned the corner and they suddenly caught a glimpse of a castle. Hogwarts. Remus was finally here and he was sure this place was going to become his home very quickly. He closed his eyes and grinned blissfully. Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, two chapters already? Thank you for reading this fanfic. Please give me your thoughts and see you in chapter three!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most exciting part of the marauders' lives is here! They're about to be sorted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What house will they get sorted into?

The boat had landed and the four boys climbed out. Following Ogg, they walked into Hogwarts’ large hallway. Sirius was shocked by the size. He had seen many large homes, including his own, but this was truly impressive. The doorways themselves were at least 6 times bigger than Sirius himself. After being raised in a fancy, rich lifestyle, Sirius knew that whoever created this castle had spared no expense.

At that moment, a tall, young woman with her hair in a severe bun came up to the group of eleven year olds. “Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall,” said the newly named Professor. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your houses will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your house's common room.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few moments in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you try to smarten yourselves up here before I take you.” Her eyes seemed to land on Potter’s hair and the boy Lupin’s shabby robes. Sirius didn’t try to change anything as that would look like he had something wrong with him. Blacks didn’t have anything wrong with them. Once everyone had finished their needless fidgeting, the Professor beckoned them with her hand and started walking towards the large doors in front of them.

Sirius trailed behind the professor like everyone else. Beside him, the boy Potter was shaking. Sirius hoped it was with excitement and not fear. If it was fear, well, Potter would most certainly not be allowed to be Sirius’ acquaintance.

The group went through one of the large doorways and into an even bigger room. Sirius assumed this was the Great Hall. There were five tables inside the room. Four of the tables were filled with students, each table having a different colour. On the far left of the room, the students wore yellow on their school uniform. Sirius assumed they were Hufflepuffs; his parents always described them as “horrible, mudblood-loving, yellow wizards." The students who sat at that table looked a little too smiley and kind. Sirius could’ve sworn one of them winked at him. How dare they have the nerve to do that! He was a Black for Salazar’s sake! 

Next to them were the Slytherins. There, Sirius could see all of his family smiling at him, as if they were already welcoming him into their ranks. His cousins, Andro and Cissy, were there waving. Bellatrix, their older sister, had just finished her time at Hogwarts and was already on her way to becoming a mad witch. Andro, however, was by far his favorite cousin. Although she was a Slytherin, she had shown him they were able to choose their own path, however small those choices were. Next to them was Lucius Malfoy, who Sirius’ parents had said Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella were thinking of marrying Cissy off to. From what Sirius had seen from him at the galas he was forced to attend, Malfoy was a right old git who was not good enough for his kinder-than-most-Black-cousins, Cissy. Andro had laughed and agreed, though she had told him not to use such ‘foul’ language.

After the Slytherin table, there was a table full of blue- dressed children. Sirius assumed this was the Ravenclaw table, as Potter had gone on and on about the red and gold colours of Gryffindor. With all three other houses out of the way, it left the last table to be Gryffindor. It was full of students sitting in red and gold uniforms, just as Potter had described it, and all of them were talking around and joking instead of listening to what was going on at the last table.

The last table! Sirius had completely forgotten about it and it seemed to be full of all of Sirius’ new teachers. In front of the table, a four legged stool stood with an old, worn hat on top of it. Sirius didn’t see the point of having that rubbish in Hogwarts. Was this hat really going to help sort them? Sirius raised an eyebrow before deciding that even the weak witches and wizards at Hogwarts couldn’t be that daft. However, everyone at the four tables was looking at the hat as if it was the Messiah himself. Professor McGonagall stood up next to the stool and beckoned the other first years forward.

In a stern voice, used to being understood and followed immediately, Professor McGonagall said, “Form a line please.” Quickly, the first years followed her orders. Sirius was near the back, stuck next to Pettigrew and Potter.

The Professor nodded in approval. At that moment, the old hat began to move. Immediately, the Great Hall quieted down and stared expectantly at it. Sirius did too. It twitched a bit more and there! A rip near the brim opened up like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

“Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry,  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw  
If you have a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin,  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means,  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on!   
Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!”

Sirius watched with increasing interest as the hat sang. As far as he was aware, no one ever enchanted objects for them to sing. After all, they were used only for their original purposes. That was simply the way of the Blacks. Obviously not everyone felt the same. Was this why Mother and Father hated half-bloods and mudbloods? It was quite unnecessary, Sirius privately agreed. 

With all of his inner monologues, Sirius had missed Professor McGonagall unroll a long scroll and begin to read it. He snapped out of it when he heard her call out, “Blacburn, Andrew”. It would soon be his turn to be sorted. 

He was right. As soon as the Blacburn fellow was sorted into Hufflepuff, McGonagall called his name out. “Black, Sirius!” 

Immediately, he heard Potter’s involuntary gasp at his last name. With his head held high and his stomach rolling, Sirius shook off his offense. In the end, it was bound to happen. No one ever stayed around once they heard the surname Black be spoken. It wasn’t like Sirius was evil! Quite the opposite really, he told himself.

Once more, Professor McGonagall called out his name and looked around. Sirius realized with shame that he had forgotten to walk up. Before his whole face could turn red, he walked up to the stool and sat down. Right before the Sorting Hat came down over his eyes, he saw his family shaking their heads. They would be writing about Sirius’ little mishap to his family. He gulped, this wasn’t exactly what he wanted his mother to scream at him next. Before anymore pondering could be done, the hat was placed firmly down on his head.

Whatever Sirius was expecting to happen did not happen. Instead a voice became known in his mind. He wanted to jump when it first spoke, but with his mistake from before, he couldn’t risk his cousins seeing that. 

“Hello Mr. Black. It has been a few years since one of your family members was sorted.”

“Who are you?” Sirius thought, hoping the voice would go away very, very soon.

“I am the Sorting Hat, Sirius. And no, I will not go away until you are sorted into your Hogwarts house.”

Sirius almost gasped. “You can-”

“Can hear your thoughts? Yes I can. But onto the Sorting. As you know, your family has always been sorted into Slytherin and for good reason too. But you, you are not like them, are you Sirius?”

Sirius hesitated before answering. “They’re my family. Of course I’m like them. Besides, even if I wasn’t, I have to be in Slytherin. It’s what’s expected of me. I can’t disappoint them. Not like this.”

“I understand Sirius, I truly do. But Slytherin is not your home. You will not accomplish the things you are meant to do if you stay there. You belong somewhere else, where people will accept you for who you are. However, if Slytherin is where you really want to go, you can choose your house.”

Again, Sirius hesitated. This was a huge decision. On one hand, his family would be proud of him, but he wouldn’t be happy. On the other hand, he would be happy, but his parents would probably disown him. 

Sensing his decision, the Sorting Hat spoke. “Are you sure Sirius? You know the consequences if this is what you choose.”

Sirius nodded. “Very well and good luck young Sirius. You shall be in GRYFFINDOR!” 

The hat was lifted off of his head and Sirius looked around the Great Hall. No one clapped as he stood up and walked up to the red and gold house. With each step he took, Sirius could feel his family’s looks burning a hole in his new robes. He didn’t dare look back. It was all he could do to keep his head up high and the tears in his eyes. Blacks don’t cry, he told himself over and over again until he reached his destination and sat down on a bench. The students around him scooted away, not wanting to sit by a Black.

Once he was sitting down he realized just how big of a decision he had made. He had just isolated himself from everyone he knew and loved. Sirius wanted to go back up and beg for a second chance but even he knew he had made his final choice. No second chance would be given to a blood traitor. Sirius’ fate had just been sealed.

After Sirius, the boy with the pools of melted silver in his eyes, was sorted, Remus knew they would never talk again. After all, Sirius had been sorted into Gryffindor and Remus was not brave. He would never be sorted there, which meant they would never have a need to talk to each other. In a way, it was relieving. Remus wouldn’t have to worry about revealing his secret. But at the same time, he was disappointed. There was just something about Sirius that made you come to him. It was like a moth being drawn to the flame; Remus just couldn’t help it. He had to get over it, Remus told himself. It wasn’t like you saw him for more than a few minutes. You barely even talked to him for Merlin’s sake! In the end, his brain decided to focus on the Sorting.

The professor was currently on K. It would soon be L and Lupin began with an L the last time Remus checked. The girl on the stool smiled at her chosen house and practically skipped the way to it. After a few Sortings, Remus was getting bored and he still had a few names before it was his turn. He turned to the boy next to him and decided to talk.

“I can’t remember your name. What was it again?” Once he spoke, Remus regretted it. His father had made it quite clear he wasn’t to make any friends.

The boy smiled brightly and stuck out a slightly pudgy hand. “I’m Peter Pettigrew. We were on the same boat, remember?”

Remus nodded. There was no point in stopping the conversation he had started. “I’m Remus. And yes, I do remember. What house do you think you’ll get?”

“I’m not sure. I just hope I don’t get Slytherin. Everyone in that house is evil!”

Laughing, Remus responded with a simple: “I’m sure not everyone in Slytherin is evil.”

“Whatever you say Remus,” Peter replied with a small smile playing on the corners of his lips.

Remus took a breath to respond but before he could, Professor McGonagall took a look at her scroll and said, “Lupin, Remus.”

Remus closed his eyes for a second, turned to Peter, and whispered, “Wish me luck would you?”

With that, Remus started walking up to the professor. He reached her and the stool too quickly, but he sat down anyway. He looked out to the crowd and the last thing he saw before the sorting hat was put on his head was Peter’s smiling face.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Remus jerked at the voice that had suddenly appeared in his head.

“Who are you?” He cried out in his mind, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

The voice laughed. “Relax. I’m the Sorting Hat, here to sort you into your house.” The voice became more thoughtful as he looked through Remus’ memories. Remus didn’t know how he knew that’s what the hat was doing; he just knew unconsciously.

“It seems I have quite the fighter in my hands here, Remus Lupin. Your, how shall I say this, condition may make you think you’re nothing, but I can see you are meant for great things Remus.”

Remus scoffed. “Yeah, right. You know what I am and we both know how everyone will treat me if they knew. They would be disgusted in me. After all, I was barely even allowed to come to Hogwarts to begin with.”

“But you came. You and I both know that deep down, perhaps very deep down for you, you are a good person and if people can’t see that, they are lying to themselves. You are so brave Remus. Which is why you belong in GRYFFINDOR!”

Remus’ eyes were wide as he stumbled off the stool. The Gryffindor table clapped for him as he made his way to them. He still couldn’t believe that the Sorting Hat thought he was brave. No one had ever said that to him apart from his mother when it happened. He smiled. He was brave. And he would be able to talk to Sirius now! Maybe this was a good thing. No, he amended his thoughts. This was great with no maybes attached.

After Remus had been sorted, Peter had been beside himself with sadness. He was not a Gryffindor, not really. Remus would never want to talk to him now. After all, no one ever did. The Sorting was quick and soon his name was called out to everyone in the Great Hall. His breathing quickened as he neared the hat, but he kept walking. He couldn’t make a fool of himself now. That would be too embarrassing, even for him.

With one last breath, he tried to control his nerves. This was the moment he’d been waiting for all his life. Was he ready? At that, the hat covered his eyes and Peter could hardly see anything.

“Hello Peter Pettigrew, I am the Sorting Hat. Let me look through your mind and you’ll be on your merry, merry way.”

Not trusting himself to speak, all Peter did was nod shyly.

“Let’s see here. It seems you have a great deal of courage in your heart. Your path may not coincide with this house, but I hope it changes you for the better. You’d better be GRYFFINDOR!”

Once the hat shouted out his house, the hat was ripped off his head and he was free to look around. The Gryffindor table was applauding and he locked eyes with Remus. He grinned when Remus gave him a discrete thumbs up. Quickly, Peter made his way to his newly made friend. He did not think of what the sorting hat said before he was sorted. There was no need. He was where he needed to be.

James was trying not to be nervous. Being nervous would make him unworthy of Gryffindor. After the small, annoying boy from the train was sorted, he knew it was nearly time. And while that was quite important, he couldn’t help but think about Sirius. Sirius was a Black. James had heard the stories, of course, everyone had. The Black family was the darkest of the dark. They were a mad family. They supported You-Know-Who. His parents had told him to stay away, but Sirius had seemed so nice when they talked on the train. Perhaps that was how they lured you in. they made you think you were safe and at home with them, and then they attacked. Was this how He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had risen to power?

James was ripped out of his dark thoughts when Professor McGonagall called out his name. “Potter, James!”

James practically ran up to the Sorting Hat. This was the moment he had been dreaming of his whole life. Everything came down to this. He sat down on the stool, bouncing impatiently, when he saw Sirius at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was all by himself, as everyone around him had scooted away. He looked miserable. Before James could go into a deep, thoughtful speech about Sirius, the hat was placed on his head.

“James Potter, hello. I am the Sorti-”

The Sorting Hat was abruptly cut off by James’ excitement, “Can I be in Gryffindor? Can I please be in Gryffindor? Please?”

The Sorting Hat laughed at his questions. “Let me look at your mind first Mr. Potter.” 

After too many hmmm’s and ah’s in James’ opinion, the Sorting Hat finally seemed to decide. “I believe that you will do your best in GRYFFINDOR!”

As soon as the hat was off his head James was off, moving like a rocket to the Gryffindor. He was trying to decide on a place to sit, when he remembered Sirius Black’s face. Sirius had looked miserable and James decided he would make Sirius happy in Gryffindor. 

As he slid into the seat across from Sirius, Sirius looked up. He frowned and asked, “What are you doing here Potter? Shouldn’t you be with all your other friends who aren’t from the house of Black?”

James frowned as well. It was almost like Sirius didn’t want him to be here. Maybe he really had misjudged Sirius. Maybe Sirius was evil like his family too. James shook that thought off immediately. It was probably just a reflex from no one talking to him before. With that, James decided to respond to Sirius’ questions. “Well, for one my name is James. Potter is my last name. Second, there was a free spot so I took it. What’s wrong with that? And last, I thought we were friends. I thought you liked me on the train. Besides, why wouldn’t I want to jive with you?” At the end of his little rant, his voice cracked, showing just how vulnerable he was.

Sirius sighed and shook his head softly. “Sorry Potter, it’s been a long day and I guess I just took it out on you. Please, by all means, sit there. It’s not like I can force you to move.”

James noticed Sirius had ignored the part about them being friends. He shook it off when the table filled with a massive spread of food. With James’ mouth drooling, he quickly grabbed a chicken leg and dug in. When his mouth was full of food, he remembered to thank Sirius for his partial apology. “Thanks mate. Nice of you to say sorry.”

Sirius looked a bit ill when James spoke with his mouth full, and James had the decency to feel sorry about the lack of manners, but he didn’t say anything. He was a man. Men didn’t say sorry. Instead, he began talking about Quidditch and how the Appleby Apples were the best team in all of history.

Soon James had Sirius laughing at his corny jokes. Sirius was even telling some jokes for Merlin’s sake! Sirius really wasn’t as bad as everyone said the Blacks were. But every so often, Sirius would look behind James and his already small smile would fall. Eventually James had enough. Turning around to look, he asked, “Who are you even looki-” He stopped talking when he saw some older Slytherins doing some signs at Sirius that were highly offensive. One of the boys pulled his finger across his neck very slowly and pointed at Sirius.

James turned back around and forced Sirius to look at him. “Do you even know these people? Why were they doing that? If they ever do that to you again, come and find me, okay? I’ll help you take care of them.”

At his last sentence, Sirius smiled. “They’re my family. They’re just pissed that I was sorted into Gryffindor of all houses. No Black has ever been sorted into this house. Gryffindor is considered a horrible house to be in. I’m just the odd one out, I guess.” He sighed and continued. “My parents will be a little shocked when they find out, that’s all.”

James slowly nodded until he fully understood what Sirius was saying. “Wait, your family hates Gryffindor? I can’t believe them! You and I are both in it which means it’s the best house to be in!” 

James opened his mouth to say more, but before he could, the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, declared it was time to go to bed. Once Dumbledore said that a Gryffindor prefect called for all the first years to follow him. Sirius and James fell into step behind the prefect and marvelled at everything. The people in the paintings moved from portrait to portrait. When the boys stepped onto one of the staircases, it began to move as well. The perfect kept walking up the stairs as they moved and James hurried to keep up. When the staircase finally stopped moving, they were in front of a picture of a fat lady. James didn’t know how else to describe her. The prefect walked right in front of her and turned around to face the first years.

“Hello, I am one of your prefects for this year. My name is William. And this is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. The other houses have their own entrances and I suggest that you do not share with them where our entrance is. In order to get inside the common room, you have to say the password correctly. For the first few weeks, the password will be what I will tell you shortly. After that, the password changes are up on the notice board. You should probably check there at least once a day. But for now the password is fortem.”

Once the prefect had finished talking, he turned back to face the portrait and said, “Fortem.”

The Fat Lady sighed and moved aside, revealing a hidden door. It swung open and the first years quickly stepped inside. When James saw the common room he knew that this was the place he wanted to be in forever. This was going to be his home for the next seven years and James could not wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Just a few short things to say:  
Professor McGonagall's speech at the beginning of the chapter is from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: chapter seven- pages 85 and 96.  
The Sorting Hat's song is also from the first Harry Potter book: chapter seven- page 88.  
Oh and the Gryffindor's password means brave in Latin.  
Thank you and have a great day wherever you are!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The marauders are in the Gryffindor common room. Nothing really happens, not gonna lie or anything.

As Remus entered the Gryffindor common room, he was shocked by what he saw. Everything he saw was red and gold: the Gryffindor colours, which probably shouldn’t have surprised him. This was a school with competitions for who had the best house. Of course they would show their house spirit in their own common room.

Remus decided to look around the Gryffindor common room. On one side of the room, there was a roaring fireplace with a plush sofa and two red armchairs in front. On the other side of the room, there were some tables that Remus assumed were for homework. The walls were covered with moving portraits of witches and wizards from Gryffindor, and there was a bulletin board that was already filled with announcements for the first week of school. The far side of the room had two staircases that spiraled up towards the sky. A large window was in between the stairs and a few others circled the room. All in all, it was a pretty perfect room that was everything he had imagined and more.

He didn’t belong here. It was the one thought that rumbled through his head as he walked around with the rest of the first years. After all, he was a monster. He didn’t deserve all of this.

In front of him the boy, James, was looking all over the place with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Remus assumed James was just as in love with the place as Remus himself was. Next to James stood Sirius, whose grey eyes captivated Remus. Sirius was looking around, but instead of looking amazed and happy that he was in Gryffindor’s common room, he looked downright miserable and not at all pleased. Remus remembered his father ranting about the Blacks, which appeared to be the family Sirius came from. Granted, the rant was not a happy rant, but Remus recalled that everyone from the Black family was sorted into Slytherin. Perhaps he wasn’t pleased because he wasn’t in Slytherin like the rest of his family before him?

Before Remus could spiral into yet another thought train wreck, the prefect who had led the first years to the Gryffindor common room decided to speak up.

“Hello, everybody! As I said outside the common room entrance, my name is William and I will be one of your prefects this year. If you can see behind me, you’ll find two staircases. The stairs on the right are for the boys and the girls’ stairs are on the left. For you guys your dormitory will be the third floor’s room. That’s the dormitory you’ll keep for the next seven years. I hope you don’t get bored of it too soon.” William gave an easygoing smile before continuing his speech. “In just a minute, when we go upstairs, you’ll find that all your belongings and pets will be in your room. You can thank the train’s conductor for that. You can decide with your roommates which beds you want to take. It’s your dormitory for the next seven years, so I suggest you choose wisely. And with that, I’ll be leading the boys up to their rooms. The girls will have to wait for the girl prefect to come with the rest of the Gryffindor students since I can’t lead you up the stairs.” William looked at the boys for a second. “Bad things happen to boys who try.”

With those last words, William turned around and started off to the boys’ stairs. Hurriedly, the boys followed. As they climbed the stairs, Remus noticed that there were only 3 other boys in this first year, James, Sirius, and the other kid: Peter. Remus was surprised; he would have thought more people would be sorted into Gryffindor. Obviously, he was wrong. 

Once they arrived on the third floor, Remus looked around. There was a short corridor with a door at the end of it. The corridor was a dark red with geometric patterns of gold painted on it. The door on the other hand was a dark wood that was completely bare. Remus started to it before realizing William hadn’t moved.

“This is where I leave you guys. Your door is at the end of the corridor and the bathroom connects to the inside of your room. If you need me, I’ll be on the floor above you. Don’t hesitate to come to me for anything, however little it may seem.” With that, William smiled at the four boys and left to climb one more flight of stairs.

As soon as William was out of sight and earshot, James grinned and began to talk. “Hi everyone! I know all of you already, isn’t that great? Now we don’t have to introduce ourselves. I mean, if you want we could introduce ourselves again. It’s all up to you guys. I don’t mind at all.” James started to walk to the door and kept on talking. “Come on guys! Let’s see what our dormitory looks like. Do you think it’ll be as fancy as the Great Hall? Didn’t you think the Great Hall and the food was great? I did! I can barely breathe in these robes from all the food I just ate!”

Before James could go on any longer the other kid, Peter, interrupted him. “Look James, this is pretty exciting. But do you think you could stop talking so that we can appreciate our dormitory properly?”

James eagerly nodded his head. “Right! Of course. I didn’t think about that, sorry guys.” He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

Remus smiled slightly. “It’s okay James. Now let’s open this door, shall we?”

With that, Remus pushed open the door and walked into his dormitory for the next seven years. In the center of the room was a pile of luggage. Remus could clearly make out the R.J.L. his mother forced him to put on his suitcase. The room had four four-poster beds with red curtains waiting to be pulled around the beds. Next to each bed was a small desk that was obviously for keeping classwork and books on. Unlike the common room, the walls were bare, presumably for the boys and Remus to add their own photos. All in all, it was a very nice dormitory. Besides him, the other three were also gaping at their room. 

“It’s beautiful,” breathed James as he turned in a circle.

Remus and Peter both murmured their agreements while Sirius just picked up his fancy suitcase and his pet carrier and chose his bed. It was at the far end of the room, next to a window.

James looked over at Sirius. “Don’t you agree? You seem pretty quiet over there mate.”

Sirius shook his head. “It’s fine, I’m just tired.” he opened his pet carrier and out crawled the cutest kitten Remus had ever seen. It was as black as night and had the sharpest green eyes. It was perfect.

Remus gasped and ran over to Sirius and his cat. “Merlin’s underwear! This is the cutest cat I have had the privilege of meeting. What’s his name?”

Sirius smiled softly, looking at his pet, and Remus silently fist-pumped to himself. He made Sirius smile! “Her name is Lyra and I can’t take credit for her perfection. That was all her. You can pet her if you want, she doesn’t bite.” Sirius coughed slightly and muttered under his breath, “Much…”

Remus snorted and began petting Lyra. James moved closer to pet her as well.

Once James had started to pet Lyra, he gasped. “Lyra is so soft! I wish my parents had let me get a cat. I have an owl.” James gestured to his cage for the owl. “His name is Ibis.”

Snorting, Sirius said, “Such a creative name Potter.” At Remus and Peter's blank looks he elaborated, “It literally means owl in Latin.”

James looked affronted at the ‘insult’ and spoke hotly, “Excuse me! How dare you Sirius, how dare you. And in my defense, I didn’t think any of you knew Latin. How was I supposed to know? Besides, isn’t Lyra a constellation? Glad to see you’re following your family’s traditions.”

“I liked the name. What was I supposed to do, choose a name I hated?” Sirius’ cheeks began to tint pink with anger.

Remus decided to step in before it could go any further. “Alright guys, it’s been a long day. Why don’t we just go to bed?”

Peter’s head nodded vigorously at Remus’ statement and stepped away to get his luggage from the pile. James sighed and got his suitcase and owl as well. 

After watching the others get their stuff, Remus got his as well. He looked around to see which beds were left to choose from. Peter’s bed was across from Sirius’, as far away from it as possible. James had chosen the bed right next to the bathroom and in between Peter and Sirius. That left one last bed for him. It was between Peter and Sirius. Remus was honestly okay with his placement. It was far better than what Remus would’ve chosen for himself.

Remus took his luggage to his newly claimed bed and started to unpack his stuff. There wasn’t much of it to unpack, as he left his clothes inside his trunk, but he did take out his school books and a photo of his family to put out on his desk. He decided he would sort out the rest in the morning. There was no need to unpack everything at 9 o’clock at night.

The rest of the boys obviously had the same idea as him because they were all grabbing their pajamas from their trunks and then closing them. Remus decided to get his too. Then, he made a beeline to the bathroom. After all, no one should ever see a monster’s scars, right? 

Without sparing a glance at how the bathroom looked, Remus quickly changed, stepped out of the bathroom, and jumped. Sirius stood right next to the door holding his own pajamas.

Sirius looked a little uncomfortable as he said, “Didn’t mean to startle you. I just need to use the bathroom.”

Remus nodded and moved aside.

Once Remus moved aside, Sirius quickly stepped in the bathroom and locked the door. Like Remus, Sirius wasn’t a big fan of changing in front of the others. Sirius had things that needed to be kept hidden, such as scars from his lovely family. With a sigh, Sirius turned and looked at himself in the mirror. 

There wasn’t much to see. His lovely parents had made sure he knew there was a thing known as starving. Take that and add it with the various scars his parents had given him, he wasn’t ready to show his body off while changing.

With another glance at his miserable body, Sirius got changed into his pajamas. Then he left the bathroom and went over to his bed without talking to anyone in the room. Even so, James kept trying to talk to him. Sirius just ignored him. He didn’t have time for unnecessary friends. What he needed was a way to convince his parents he was still good. 

After some time, James had enough of Sirius’ silence and interrupted his thinking. “Are you going to answer me Sirius?”

Sirius shook his head. “No. I'm tired and want to go to sleep so shut up.”

James opened his mouth to reply, but Remus stopped him. “Sirius is right,” he said in a soft voice. “We should all just go to sleep. We’ll have plenty of time before school starts to interrogate each other.”

James was obviously not pleased with this, but it suited Sirius just fine. 

“Great. Goodnight then everyone,” Sirius said, ending any argument James could’ve said, and shut his drapes around his bed. Sirius didn’t need anyone to see him sleep. That was creepy, even if they were sleeping in the same room. Besides, Sirius wasn’t even tired. He just needed everyone else to go to sleep so he could frantically write a letter to his horrid parents explaining that Gryffindor was just a misunderstanding. Surely the Sorting Hat would let him resort. With any luck, he’ll get Slytherin and all his problems would be solved. 

Sirius nodded his head. That was a reasonable plan. All he needed to do now was start the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thank you so much for reading this far. I know this chapter isn't that long, I didn't have any creative juices flowing. Chapter five should come out sooner than this wait. With all this free time, I should hope that I can write more. Have a good day/night and hope you have a good Easter Sunday wherever you are.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh, Pads writes a letter to the sperm and egg donors and James takes him on an "adventure."

Soon after Sirius closed his drapes, snoring was heard from around the room. Not daring to move for fear of waking up his roommates, Sirius stayed in his bed for another half hour. By then, there was no shuffling around on the other beds. It was silent, apart from someone snoring.

Slowly, Sirius got out of his bed and went over to his trunk. He opened it and searched for some parchment and a quill. As he closed his trunk, the clasp banged down hard. Sirius froze, hoping no one would wake up from the noise. For once, luck was on his side and no one stirred awake.

After lighting a small candle and sitting on his comfy new bed, Sirius started to write.

Dear mother and father,  
It has come to my attention that you have yet to know of the Sorting Hat’s decision.

Sirius shook his head and threw away the parchment. He would have to come up with something better than ‘it has come to my attention.’ After all, he was their heir. If he didn’t word this letter properly, he could be killed or even worse, disowned. Neither was something Sirius wanted to happen.

He took another sheet of parchment and started again.

Dearest Mother and Father,  
As you know, I was sorted into my house today. I’m sure you have already received word from my cousins telling you of what happened, but in case you didn't already know, I will tell you. I was sorted into Gryffindor. I know this is not what you expected, nor what you asked of me, but I will make it up to you.

Sirius smiled bitterly. Nothing could ever make this better. He could never truly make it up to them and because of that they would never trust, or what his parents considered as trust, him again. Not that it really mattered. It wasn’t like they cared about him to begin with. They just cared about their reputation he was tarnishing. He sighed and continued the letter.

Your heir and son,  
Sirius Orion Black III 

With the extremely short but difficult to write letter to his parents finished, Sirius blew out his candle and went to return his supplies in his trunk. He would send the letter to his parents in the morning. As he put his things away, Sirius noticed a letter hiding in the folds of his clothing. Frowning he closed his trunk, laid down on his bed, and opened it. He immediately recognized Regulus’ handwriting. His loopy scrawl was still as messy as ever.

Hey Sirius!  
I thought I’d write this letter since Mother and Father wouldn’t let me come with you to the platform. That is so unfair! Just because you’re going to Hogwarts doesn’t mean I can't come to the platform either. Speaking of, what does the platform look like? Does the Hogwarts Express really toot it’s horn when it comes in? How long does it take to get to Hogwarts? It must have been so boring sitting next to Cissy and Andro on the ride there. All they talk about are boys. Yuck. What does the Slytherin common room look like anyway? Is it as cold as Mother complains it is? Are you really next to the lake? Have you met any nice Slytherins? Father says you won’t but that must be so lonely. I can't wait for you to come back home. I’m lonely too. You haven't left yet and I’m already missing you. Don’t bother replying. We both know Mother and Father won’t allow it.  
Love you and I’ll see you at Christmas!  
Reg

Sirius smiled at his little brother’s antics. The letter made him miss Grimmauld Place in a way he didn’t realize he would. Hogwarts was so different from his home. It didn’t have Reg. It also didn’t have his parents but that was something he liked about Hogwarts. With that, Sirius closed his eyes and drifted off to the sound of his new roommates’ snores.

The next thing Sirius knew was being woken up by a particularly loud voice. James. Sirius rolled his eyes. This was not the way he wanted his morning to go. 

“Come on Sirius! Wake up,” James groaned for the fifteenth time this morning. This time he could see Sirius move away from his voice. 

With the knowledge his new best friend was awake and ignoring him, James reached over and shook Sirius roughly. “Hurry up mate. Breakfast is nearly ready and I don’t want to be late for it. Besides, everyone else is awake.” Technically that was a lie, but James didn’t dwell on simple technicalities. He just needed Sirius to get up so they could finally bond and become the bestest friends the world had ever seen.

Instead of doing what James wanted, Sirius just turned away from him and said, “Let me sleep Potter.”

James wasn’t a spoilt only child brat for nothing. He persisted no matter what, even when there were better things to do. He would not give up until his best friend moved his arse out of bed. It was their first whole day at Hogwarts for Merlin’s sake! And it was the weekend. There wasn’t any school for 2 whole days. Now was the perfect time to get some lovely bonding and exploring in. 

“Get out of bed Sirius or I’ll hex you with something my father taught me.” James hoped that would be a good enough threat to move Sirius.” 

At James’ words, Sirius finally sat up and looked around their shared bedroom for the next seven years. Then he frowned. 

“You said everyone else was awake!” Sirius cried, obviously annoyed at being lied to.

James just shrugged. “Technical liabilities. I had to get you up somehow.” James grinned at a sudden thought. “Besides, now we can get some breakfast and become better friends! It’ll be fun, I promise.”

As soon as James said the word ‘friends’, he knew something was wrong. Sirius’ face had shut down and he couldn’t see any emotion in it anymore. 

“I don’t think we can be friends Potter. But now that you’ve woken me up at this ungodly hour, I can send my letter to my parents. I just need to find where they keep the owls here,” Sirius said, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

James grinned. Now they had some incentive to go exploring the grounds. “I’ll come with you!”

“You don’t have to.” Sirius shook his head.

“What are friends for, if I can’t even come with you on our very first adventure?”

Sirius just groaned. “Fine. Let me get changed first.”

James nodded wildly in response. He should probably go and put some clothes on as well. It would be quite indecent if he just walked around the school in his pajamas after all.

As soon as they were both ready, James grabbed Sirius’ arm and hauled him out of their bedroom. Sirius laughed and slapped his arm as they made their way to the Great Hall.

“Let go Potter! I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own.”

“I would if it weren’t for the fact that you would probably run off the second I let go.”

“I solemnly swear that I won’t Potter. You can trust me on this.” Sirius’ eyes were bright and sincere as he said this, leaving James no choice but to release his best friend.

Sirius rubbed his arm in relief. “Thank Merlin. I thought you would never let go.”

James gasped, affronted Sirius would ever think that of him. He was a gentleman like man, thank you very much. His mother had made sure of it. Of course, James could never hate his mother; she was the best person in the world.

“How dare you Siri. I keep my promises.”

“Siri?”

James hesitated. “Well, I figured if we’re gonna be friends then we needed nicknames.” Instead of looking at Sirius, he looked up and noticed they were in front of the Great Hall’s doors already. “Hey look, we’re here. Maybe one of the teachers can point us to the Owlery.”

“Cool, let’s go.”

James grinned. It seemed Sirius was finally warming up to him. As they walked he tried to entice Sirius with some conversation. It did not work. Sirius just ignored him until they reached the Gryffindor table. By then, James had gone quiet.

James sat down in front of Sirius and silently made it his mission to get him to at least talk. Just as he was starting his mission, Sirius gasped loudly.

“Bacon!” Sirius had an actual smile on his face as he piled multiple pieces of bacon on his plate and dug in. James laughed. Apparently all he had to do was give Sirius some bacon and all his problems would be solved.

“I guess bacon’s alright. I much prefer the toast here though,” James said, picking up some toast and buttering them up.

Sirius looked at him. “You don’t like bacon? What kind of monster are you?”

“I do like bacon but my mum always makes it for Sunday breakfast. It gets a bit old after a while, you know?”

Sirius chewed a bit before answering. “Well I’ve only had bacon thrice before. The novelty has yet to wear off.”

“Why have you only eaten bacon three times? It’s one of the bare necessities in life!” James was shocked. What kind of person didn’t eat bacon on a regular basis?

“I don’t think bacon is a necessity. I’ve lived this far, haven’t I?”

James scoffed. “So?”

Sirius looked at him as if he was stupid. “It’s only a necessity if you can’t live without it.”

“Yeah, I can’t live without bacon.”

“Whatever,” Sirius said, looking a little annoyed at their conversation.

Before long James had finished his breakfast. Sirius had finished his a little while before and had been tapping his fingers on the table impatiently ever since. James ate slower just to spite him. It was worth the slap on the head from Sirius.

“Great, let’s go talk to the professors. Surely one of them will know where the Owlery is,” Sirius said almost leaping up after the last bite on James’ plate was gone.

James laughed. It seemed his best friend was quite impatient. “Of course.”

When they reached the teachers’ table the Gryffindor head approached them. James faintly recalled her telling them her name. McGhoul? McGranger? Neither of those seemed to fit.

While James tried to remember her name, Sirius spoke up. “Hello Professor McGonagall. We were just wondering where the Owlery was. I need to mail a letter to my parents, you see, but I didn’t bring an owl to Hogwarts.”

James snapped his fingers. “McGonagall! I knew it started with an M.” Both Sirius and McGonagall turned to look at him incredulously.

“What the heck Potter?” Sirius said.

James just rubbed the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable with the attention. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

McGonagall just huffed and turned back to look at Sirius. “Of course Mr. Black. I will be happy to tell you where the Owlery is. It is the west tower here at Hogwarts. It’s on the other side of Hogwarts compared to the Gryffindor tower so you won’t know which stairs to take. If you’d like I’d be more than willing to take you two there myself.”

James smiled. Why on earth would they want her to come with them when they could use this as an excuse to explore the castle? “No thank you Professor, I’m sure we’ll be fine by ourselves.”

As James spoke, Sirius replied with a simple, “That would be very much appreciated Professor, thank you.”

James stared at him. “Why would you want her to come with us?”

“So we don’t get lost on our first day Potter!”

McGonagall just sighed. “I’ll see you boys later. Don't get too lost.”

James grinned and tugged Sirius away from the Great Hall. As soon as they were out of the Great Hall and on one of the moving staircases, Sirius turned on him.

“Why would you tell the professor we didn’t need any help? We have no idea how to get to the Owlery on our own Potter!”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way. It can’t be that hard, can it?”

It soon became clear James had jinxed them by saying that. They had been up numerous stairs, down countless more, and they had just been tricked by a particularly nasty portrait. It had been at least half an hour since they had started and James was disappointed to say he had no idea when they would ever find civilization again.

Eventually, James spotted a ghost lurking around. “Do you think he’ll help us?” James asked silently hoping the ghost would.

“The last time I listened to your advice Potter, Peeves threw gum in my hair. I’m not sure your advice is that good,” Sirius said, pointing angrily at his combed hair. Sure enough, the pink bubblegum was still stuck. 

“Whatever,” James muttered under his breath, annoyed that Sirius was probably right. All the bad things that had happened to them on this adventure had been because of his “advice.” Ignoring his subconscious for a minute, James dragged Sirius to the ghost.

“Why hello there! What are you two little first years doing out here all alone?” the ghost said. The ghost in question was quite pale (in James’ opinion) and had a tunic covered with ruffs. Along with the atrocious ruffles, the ghost sported a rather dashing plumed hat that covered some long, curly hair. 

“So sorry to bother you sir, we were just trying to find the Owlery. Have a good day!” Sirius said to the ghost and then began walking away.

“You do know you’re walking in the opposite direction from where you want to go, correct?” the ghost said in response to Sirius’ comment.

Sirius stopped walking away, and came back to where James and the ghost were. “And you know where the Owlery is?”

The ghost beamed. “Yes! If you’d like I can take you.”

James nearly collapsed in relief. “Thank you so much sir. We would have never known where to find it if it weren’t for you.”

Sirius coughed and looked at him pointedly. James just smiled sheepishly in return.

“Come along then. We don’t have all day, do we?”

As they walked, the ghost filled the time with quite a few words. James learned that the ghost’s name was Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, but most people just called him Nearly Headless Nick. James being James had asked why he was known as “nearly headless” and was rewarded with a gruesome show of Nick taking his head off of his shoulders. It was quite the sight to see. 

After the horrifying view, James also found out that Nearly Headless Nick was the resident ghost for the Gryffindor tower. Nick was quite excited to find out they were Gryffindors. Eventually, they climbed up a steep tower. Once they reached the top, Nick stopped floating. 

“This is the Owlery gentlemen. If you need any help getting somewhere I’ll be happy to help you two.”

“Thanks Nick. We’ll be seeing you soon,” James said and waved goodbye as Nick floated back down the stairs.

As soon as Nick was out of their sight, Sirius went into the Owlery. James quickly followed, ready to see what they had been searching for most of the morning. 

He sighed in disappointment. Compared to what he had seen of Hogwarts, the Owlery wasn’t as grand as he had been expecting. He had been expecting something a little cleaner and neater. Instead, it was cold and drafty because the windows had no glass and were full of owl droppings. James could’ve sworn he saw some rats scurry past his feet. He wrinkled his nose and looked at Sirius. 

“Do we have to be here?”

James grinned a little when he saw Sirius looked just as disgusted. “Yes. It shouldn’t take long though Potter.”

“Thank Merlin.”

James resigned himself to look around while Sirius sent his letter to his parents. After a bit of impatient sighing Sirius took his hint and finished choosing an owl. It took a few more annoying seconds before Sirius spoke.

“Finished Potter.”

James sighed in relief. “Praise the lord. Now come on, let’s go. If we stay here any longer I won’t be able to wash off the smell of owl droppings for weeks.”

Sirius laughed and James just stared at his friend in shock. “Did- did you just laugh?”

Sirius scowled and pushed him as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room. “Shut it Potter!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone. Thanks again for reading this chapter. I somehow managed to push it out in the same month as the chapter four (a first). I hid a little Jungle Book reference in this chapter. I also had Hermione Granger's spirit come into me, so if anyone finds those references I will love you forever. Have a great day/night and I hope you're doing well in this weird world.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius gets a letter from home and has to deal with it. *surprise pov*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long guys. Enjoy this little filler and happy pride.

The first thing Sirius did when he woke up the day before school began was pray. His parents had yet to reply to his letter and there was no way they hadn’t heard already. School owls were trusted to fly as swiftly as possible. His mother and father were sure to be pissed, and the longer the letter took to get to him, the angrier they were. It would show in the letter they returned; if they even replied. Perhaps they would make Sirius sweat it out until Christmas break. If he was at home there was no one to hear his parents ‘teach him a lesson.’

With these thoughts in mind, Sirius got dressed and went down to the common room to sit and wait for others to wake up. As he sat there, he tried so very hard to hate the crackling fire and the soft couch where he was sitting. This should have felt wrong; Slytherin was the only house that should have held a Black. Why didn’t this feel wrong?

It hadn’t felt wrong when James had led him all over the school to help him find the Owlery. It hadn’t felt wrong when he laughed with Potter as they tried to get the gum out of their hair. It definitely hadn’t felt wrong when he had stayed up late the night before to stare at his namesake, eating some leftover pie he had brought back from dinner. It felt right.

As right as it had felt, Sirius still felt all sorts of wrong when he noticed the Black family owl, Ursa, flying towards him. It was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach and stop eating the best bacon in the world.

His hands shook as he took the letter from Ursa, terrified of what it might contain. Thankfully it wasn’t a Howler; his mother had much more tact than that. Even still, it felt like everyone’s eyes were on him as he opened up the letter. “You don’t belong here,” they all seemed to say as he started reading. It was true. He didn’t belong in Gryffindor and he no longer belonged to his family. He didn’t belong anywhere.

Sirius Orion Black the Third,  
How dare you disgrace the noble name of Black! You have shamed us with your sorting. Gryffindor! How could you have been so stupid and selfish by choosing that house over our family’s pride? Your ancestors are turning in their graves because of you. You brought down our reputation just because you couldn’t be a good son and do what you were meant to do. The Dark Lord will never see us the same, all because of you. You disgust me. I am ashamed to even call you my son.  
Rethink your house placement or there will be consequences.  
Walburga Black

Sirius held back tears. He knew the letter would be bad, but nothing could have ever prepared him for the short and furious words his mother spat at him. How could he have abandoned his family? He truly was a selfish person. His mother was right. 

At that moment, Potter sat down and opened a letter he had received. His grin spread over his face the more he read and when he turned towards Sirius, his smile was threatening to take over his whole face.

“Siri! My mum just wrote to me!”

“What did she say?” 

“She’s proud I got into Gryffindor. Says I’m making her and my father proud.”

Sirius felt his heart crack. He looked at the letter with jealous eyes. Even though Potter’s mother was a blood traitor, she appeared to be proud of her son. His parents had never done that before. They probably would never be proud of him. At this, his eyes began to burn more than ever from the effort of not crying. He stood up from the table quickly.

“Where are you going mate?” James’ concerned voice asked him. “Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?”

Sirius forced a smile on his face and hid his glistening eyes. “I’m fine Potter. I just need some fresh air.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll come with yo-”

“No!” Sirius all but screamed. James looked taken aback. Sirius closed his eyes and counted to ten. “I’m sorry for snapping, I’d just prefer to be alone right now.”

James looked at his face, most likely searching for the lie. “Well alright then. Let me know when you want to be with me again.”

Sirius nodded absently, already halfway out of the Great Hall. From there, he kept walking until he found a courtyard with no one in it. There, he sat down rereading his letter until he couldn’t take it. He didn’t cry, the noble house of Black never cried, but he felt as though his mother had ripped part of his heart away from him. 

Determined to put his feeling of uselessness to use, he began to think of ways to please his mother. He looked down at the letter again and read the last line.

Rethink your house placement or there will be consequences.

That was it! All he needed to do was get resorted into Slytherin. It couldn’t be that hard. Right? 

After half an hour of thinking (which was hard godsdamnit), Sirius reached a conclusion that it was indeed very difficult to be resorted. He might as well have been trying to find a way to the moon. It was just that impossible. The option now was to ask a teacher and they would all turn him away. He was a Black in Gryffindor after all. 

Sirius paused. Hadn’t the head of Gryffindor said she would help Potter and himself if they needed any assistance? The professor was the person who held the hat at the Sorting. If anyone knew if he could be resorted, it would be her! Now all he needed to do was find Professor McGonagall’s office.

Minerva McGonagall had always prided herself on her restraint and professional tact. So when one of her first year Gryffindors came knocking on her office door, she was not sure where it would go. After all, the term hadn’t even begun. What was there to even discuss?

She was even more shocked when the eldest Black came in. It had been quite the scandal according to the pureblood families. He was meant to be in Slytherin, as had all his ancestors before him. But when she saw the young Black’s hands trembling, she forgot all of that and vowed to make sure he would never come into her office like that again.

“What can I do for you Mr. Black?” Minerva asked, not missing the slight flinch he gave at his last name.

Sirius lifted a piece of paper that Minerva realized he had been holding the entire time. 

“My mother wishes to know if there was any way I could be resorted. Preferably into Slytherin. You see, my whole family has been in Slytherin and my mother would like me to follow in their footsteps,” he said softly.

She frowned. “I am well aware of your family’s history. Besides, the Sorting hat has never made a bad choice in the sorting before. May I please see your mother’s letter Mr. Black? I might be able to understand the reasoning behind your mother’s wishes with it.”

The boy froze for a moment, a look of utter terror flashing across his face before it was gone as quickly as it came. “Oh- that’s not necessary Professor. This letter contains some personal information in it. I’ll ask my mother to write you another one if you’d like.” 

Minerva’s frown deepened. This letter obviously was not meant for anyone but the young Black to read. It probably held something that would be considered unacceptable to the rest of wizarding society.

“I’m afraid I must see it Mr. Black. I assure full confidentiality for whatever is written inside. Now then,” she said, while extending her arm to get the letter. Sirius sighed before giving in.

As she read the letter, Minerva kept getting images of causing severe harm to Walburga Black. She had no right to treat an 11 year old like this. For the sake of her professional tact and restraint however, she managed to hold the urge back. Sirius did not need to see her go ballistic. Besides, that would be unprofessional.

She took a deep breath and took a sip of her tea. “I am going to ask you a question and I would very much appreciate it if you would answer me honestly.”

Sirius took a deep breath and nodded. She assumed that was a yes and continued. 

“Do you wish to move houses?” Before Sirius could respond, Minerva held up a finger. “You, not your mother Sirius.”

After a few moments of silence, Sirius answered with a slight smile on his face. “I think I’d rather stay in Gryffindor if that’s okay with you Professor.”

Minerva couldn’t help but smile too. “Very well then Sirius. I will write to your mother and explain that you are not allowed to resort.” 

Sirius’ slight smile turned into a very relieved smile. Before he could leave, however, Minerva raised a bowl of biscuits for him. “Would you like a biscuit Sirius?”

He took a chocolate one and walked to the door. “Thank you Professor,” he said softly, walking out. 

They both knew he wasn’t just thanking her for the biscuit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. As I said before, sorry it took so long. My laptop broke and I couldn't fix it until recently. This is pretty short but I'm almost done with chapter seven. Hope you guys are doing well and I hope you liked the surprise point of view. Please let me know!


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus' first full moon at the school grounds and the marauders' first school day at Hogwarts. Enjoy!

Remus’ first weekend at Hogwarts went by without any incidents. After seeing James and Sirius climb into the common room laughing with gum in their hair, he steered clear of any human interaction. Besides, his father had made it clear that no one would like him. He was a monster after all.

While it hurt that no one approached him, it was for the best. The full moon was that very night and he was already feeling the effects. It was a miracle he had been able to function the past few days. 

All of this was reflected while Remus glumly ate his breakfast the day before the school year started. He still didn’t know how he was going to get to his classes. The full moon always took a painful toll on him. He was just getting up from the table when an owl fluttered down by him. Frowning, he took the letter and sat back down. His mother had promised to wait until the end of the first week to send Remus letters and his father would’ve never bothered to write him a letter to begin with. Therefore, Remus had no idea who it could be from. Ripping it open, he started to read.

Mr. Lupin,  
It has been a pleasure to have you here so far. As you very well know, tonight is the full moon and the first of many here at Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey insists on doing a routine checkup before your transformation to make sure everything is alright. As such, I must request you go to the infirmary after dinner to ensure everything goes well.   
Enjoy your day,  
Professor Dumbledore

With the letter engraved in his mind, Remus crumpled it up and left the Great Hall. As he left, his eyes caught Dumbledore’s and he nodded slightly to show he understood the message. While nodding at the headmaster he missed the inquisitive glance his roommate, James, gave him.

Remus had made it to the courtyard when he finally heard footsteps approaching. He had half a mind to go and hide, but before he could, the figure came into the light. It was James.

“Hey. Remus, right? Are you okay? You just left the Great Hall without any warning,” James said softly, as if he was trying not to spook Remus away. It was a kind gesture but Remus didn’t need anyone getting too close to him. 

Still, it would be rude to ignore James. His father wouldn’t find out he had broken the rules. But it wasn’t like they would become friends. There was no harm in talking to James. Right?

“I’m fine James, but thank you for asking,” Remus said, trying to cover his wan face with a weak smile. James just stared at him, unimpressed. The tactic obviously hadn’t worked.

“I don’t believe you.” Remus stared at him, wide eyed. What would he do now? Just then, James continued, “But, I do believe that you just need a friend.”

Remus paused in his thinking. Friend? Even though he knew his father would murder him and make it look like an accident when he found out this interaction occurred, Remus considered the idea. He had never truly had a friend before. He had always been homeschooled and even when he did leave his home, the other kids made fun of him for being a freak. 

With quite a lot of hesitation, Remus replied with a very quiet, “If you want to.”

James gaped at him. “Why would I not want to be your friend? You seem pretty kosher if I do say so myself.”

Remus grinned slightly. “Thank you James.”

“You’re welcome! What are friends for?” James said, clapping Remus on his shoulder with a bright grin on his face.

Remus winced; everything was sore and James had just aggravated all of his muscles in that shoulder.

“Did I hurt you mate? Oh I’m so sorry! Mum keeps telling me not to hit people on the shoulder but I never really listen, y’know?”

Remus just rubbed his forehead. This kid just would not stop talking. “It’s fine James, but I’d really like to be alone right now.”

James gasped. “Was I horrible?”

“No. I just want to be alone. It has nothing to do with you.”

Remus’ new friend visibly deflated at his words. “Oh. Well, see you around then Remy.” With that, James turned and walked away.

Remus’ heart pulled as he saw his first friend leave. He was a horrible person. James had only been trying to include Remus and get to know him and he had just pushed him away like usual. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was for the best anyway. Now, James surely didn’t want to get to know him and his secret would be safe. With his new mantra repeating in his head, he went to find the library to pass the time.

Remus found the library with little trouble after asking a professor where it was. From there, he searched the shelves and found himself in the monsters section. Not wanting to read a book about himself, he moved away until he found a book about the history of Hogwarts. It was called Hogwarts: A History. 

By the time he had finished it and checked his watch, dinner had been going on for 10 minutes.

“Frick. This is not a great way to start off your years at Hogwarts Remus,” he muttered to himself as he ran to the Great Hall.

Remus slid into the last seat remaining at the Gryffindor table. It was right next to James. The world really did hate him, didn’t they? 

After catching his breath, Remus began to pile as much food as he could onto his plate. The wolf inside him was hungry. When he started to dig in, James turned over and did a double take.

“Remus? When did you get here? You should’ve said something!”

He just shrugged and kept eating. Thankfully, Sirius answered James.

“He just came in Potter. Can’t you use your brain for once?”

Remus smirked into his plate as he heard James’ undignified squawks. He had a feeling he would get along quite well with Sirius.

Eventually, dinner was over and it was time for Madam Pomfrey to do her thing. James being James, however, kept trying to drag Remus away from the teachers.

“Stop it James please! I just need to talk to Professor McGonagall for a second, I’ll be in the common room as fast as you can say Merlin’s saggy left behind.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay behind Remus? You’re my friend,” James said with a pitiful look on his face. Remus’ heart strings tugged, although he knew he could never let James know the real reason why he had to stay behind.

“I swear to you James, I’ll be fine.”

A voice spoke up after Remus said those words. “Listen to Lupin, Potter. He’s not an idiot.” Remus smiled at Sirius, thankful that the only person that James appeared to listen to was on his side. Sirius tilted his head slightly in return.

James groaned. “Fine. But I better see you before classes start tomorrow, you hear me?”

Remus nodded, secretly pleased that James was this worked up over him, a monster.

By the time James had left the Great Hall, only two other people remained: Professor Dumbledore and someone Remus assumed was Madam Pomfrey.

“Hello Remus, I am Madam Pomfrey. I’ll be taking care of you before and after the moon tonight,” Madam Pomfrey said.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said in reply.

Dumbledore smiled at that and said, “Do not worry Remus. You are in safe hands with Poppy here.”

At that Madam Pomfrey began her “check-up” otherwise known as torture. Remus would have willingly given into the wolf inside him just to make the pain of the “check-up” stop. It was made worse the closer it got to the full moon.

Eventually, Dumbledore sensed Remus’ agitation and managed to pull Madam Pomfrey off of him.

“I believe it is time to show you where you shall stay during your transformation. Follow me please.”

Remus nodded and fell into step with the headmaster as they walked across the grounds. Throughout their walk, Dumbledore kept up with some mindless chatter until they reached a moving tree.

Remus stared at it unimpressed. Sure, it moved, but it was still a tree. “This is a tree sir. What are we doing here?”

Dumbledore simply smiled and said, “All in good time, my boy. Immobulus!” 

With the spell, the tree stopped moving and Dumbledore walked forward until he could press a knot on the tree. Remus’ eyes widened as a passageway appeared. Dumbledore simply walked forward into the passageway and turned around, waiting for Remus to follow.

After many winding turns, they eventually reached the end of the tunnel. They stepped into a dusty, old shack. Remus walked over to the window and saw they were far from the castle.

“This is where you will stay during your transformations. I will have Poppy come and fetch you at dawn. I wish you all the best Remus Lupin.”

Remus nodded his head. “Thank you Headmaster. I really appreciate this.”

Dumbledore laughed and said, “There is no need to thank me, Mr. Lupin. It was my pleasure. You deserve to be here at Hogwarts. It is your home.” With that, he turned and left, leaving Remus alone for the rest of the night.

After an hour of waiting, Remus felt the full moon approaching. His bones began to shift as the change began. He screamed out in pain as the wolf inside him took over and turned him into a monster. The last thing he remembered was the agonizing screams that fell out of his mouth. Then, everything went black.

James smiled to himself as he reached for his glasses on his bedside table. Today was the first day of school and he had made another friend yesterday. Remus seemed like a wonderful person and James had spent the whole day after they talked trying to look for him. However, he hadn’t found him and when James looked over at Remus’ bed, it seemed Remus was not there. Sirius was awake though, so James quickly ran over to him.

“Do you know where Remus is?”

Sirius glanced up at him with his uncanny look of boredom and replied with a simple no.

“Well then we have to find him! We can’t let our fellow friend go missing on the first day of school. It’s unacceptable,” James said. Sirius winced at the volume and James realized he was close to shouting. James looked over at Peter to find him still sleeping and turned back to Sirius and whispered a simple sorry.

Again Sirius looked up at James and this time James could see Sirius getting a little fed up. “Did you consider that Remus might’ve already gone down for breakfast? Or the fact that he doesn’t want you to be near him after you spammed him with conversation yesterday? Did you even consider the possibility that he doesn’t want to be your friend?”

James gasped, affronted. “How dare you. I am a delight, thank you very much. Besides if you’re my friend, I'm sure Remus is mine as well.”

“I’m not your friend Potter,” Sirius muttered under his breath.

James huffed and started to put on his robes. By the time he was finished, Sirius was tapping his foot impatiently.

“Just how slow are you Potter? If you want me to help you find that Lupin boy, you need to hurry up a bit.”

James was shocked. Had he just gotten his best friend to agree to do something? This was a very happy first. He doubted it would work again. Then he realised what Sirius had said and began to run out of their dorm. 

“Hurry up Siri! We’ll be late to breakfast!” At this, James could hear Sirius’ sigh of slight annoyance and continued running until he was waiting outside the Fat Lady. Tapping his feet, he understood Sirius’ annoyance and wondered if Sirius was walking slowly on purpose. It wouldn’t be the first time Sirius did something just to annoy him. Eventually, Sirius emerged from the painting. 

Together they walked down to the Great Hall. James skipped and then walked backwards trying to amuse his friend but the only thing he got in return was Siri walking even faster in an effort to get away from him. 

When they arrived at the Great Hall, James started to look for Remus, his newest friend. He was still trying to look when Sirius tapped his shoulder impatiently.

“He’s right there idiot.” Sure enough, when James followed Sirius’ finger he saw someone with a mop of auburn hair and a distinct slouch. It was Remus! James ran over to him quickly, not even checking to see if Sirius was following.

As James got closer, he saw that Remus was worse off than he had seen before. There were scratches all over his face and large bags under his eyes hinted at just how tired he was. Concerned, he sat next to Remus and waited for Remus to notice him. He didn’t.

James cleared his throat softly. “Hey Remus!” Remus jumped and looked up at James with wide eyes. “Where were you last night? You never came in. I was so worried!”

“Sorry James. I had to go back home last night,” Remus said as he slouched down even more.

Sirius snorted. “What could you possibly need so badly you had to go back home before school started? We’ve barely been here 3 days.”

James frowned at Sirius’ words. He was right. They hadn’t even started their lessons yet and if Remus had forgotten something his family could’ve just owled it over. Why was it so important he had to go back?

“My mum got sick and the doctors were worried so they sent me home in case she was going to die. Now if you’ll excuse me, Professor McGonagall is coming over to our table.” With those scathing words, Remus turned away from James and Siri.

After hearing what Remus had said to them, James felt horrible. He moved to apologise but Sirius elbowed him harshly. 

He glared at his friend. “What was that for mate?”

Sirius just tilted his head at the professor who was about to reach them. Sure enough, after a few moments, McGonagall pulled out two sheets of paper and handed one to each of them.

“These are your schedules for the whole year. I suggest you don’t lose them, as there will be no replacements. And do you know where Pettigrew is? Breakfast is about to end. He’s going to be late!”

James took the schedule and answered the professor before looking at it. “I think he’s still sleeping, Professor.”

McGonagall huffed and shoved another schedule to James. “Go and give this to him.”

James sighed and nodded. Why was it always him? “Of course Professor.”

“And remember, don’t be late!”

James sighed again. He really didn’t want to wake up Peter, nor did he want to skip breakfast because of it.

“Come on mate. Grab a plate of bacon and go. We have to get Peter,” James said to Sirius.

Siri just looked at him incredulously. “She gave the schedule to you Potter, not me. Don’t you dare make me come with you.”

James frowned. Now was not the time to argue, but he was not going to do this alone. 

“You’re coming with me Sirius. I give you no other option. Now hurry up.” With that, James dragged Sirius out of the Great Hall.

When they reached the Gryffindor tower, they saw Peter rushing out of the Fat Lady’s portrait with a very rumpled uniform thrown on. His hair obviously had not been combed and he looked frantic.

“Peter! There you are. You missed breakfast but we managed to get your schedule from Professor McGonagall. Now come on! We only have 30 minutes to get to-” At this, James paused to look at his schedule. “-herbology. They’re in the greenhouses.”

“Where are the greenhouses?” Peter asked as they began their run down to class.

“It’s by the bell towers. Haven’t you checked where all your classes are?” Siri said in reply.

Peter gasped for some breath. “No!”

James rolled his eyes at his friends. Now was not the time to be talking about that. “Just hurry up.”

By the time they had made it to the greenhouses, all three boys were panting like crazed dogs. James walked to the greenhouse other first years were waiting by and collapsed.

“What happened to you?” A girl with bright red hair said.

James sat up to look at her properly and glared. “Excuse me?”

“You look like you’ve just run a marathon.”

He frowned. “What’s a marathon? Is it part of muggle culture?”

The girl, whose name had yet to be said, gasped. “You’re one of the weirdos that doesn’t know anything? Are all wizards like this?”

James felt quite offended but answered anyway. “Well, excuse me for not knowing anything. What’s your name anyway?”

“My name’s Lily.”

James hummed. Lily was a good name, even if the person themselves was rude. Before any more conversation broke out between them, a professor opened the greenhouse door.

“Come in, come in! Welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Professor Sprout and I will be your Herbology teacher here at Hogwarts. Today will just be a simple review of what is to come.”

After the introduction, James zoned out and decided to look around the greenhouse to see if there were any interesting plants. There were none. Of course, James was not known for his herbology skills. He hardly knew anything about plants. His mother had tried to teach him, but he ended up burning down the garden. Needless to say, his mother never offered again.

Eventually, the class finished and he wandered the halls to find his next class. It was History of Magic and James was not ashamed to say he fell asleep in it. It was taught by a ghost for Merlin’s sake! After you got over that simple fact, it was the most boring thing he'd ever had to listen to. What would he even need History of Magic for? Finally, it was time for lunch. James couldn’t wait to eat. Or, as Siri liked to say “stuff his face.”

When they arrived at the Gryffindor table, James made a point to sit next to Remus. He still needed to apologise for breakfast and he was curious if his mother was alright.

James waited 15 minutes before daring to speak to Remus. “I’m so sorry about interrogating you this morning at breakfast mate. It was terribly rude of us. But I do have to ask, is your mother okay?”

Remus choked on his food, startled, and coughed a few times before answering. “It’s okay James. And thanks for asking, my mother’s doing better but Dumbledore’s allowed me to see her once a month just in case.”

James nodded as if he had any idea of what he was talking about. “That’s some great news!”

Remus smiled a little at that. “Yeah, yeah it is.”

With his apology accepted, James turned back to eating his glorious lunch until he had 10 minutes to get to the last class of his day: Defense Against the Dark Arts. This was the class James had been waiting for. It had been his mother’s favorite subject and he was determined to make her proud.

He walked next to Sirius, who had had the common sense to find all the first year classes before the school year started, and grinned. “Are you excited for DADA, Siri? It’s supposed to be the best class ever!”

Shockingly, his best friend frowned and said, “It’s not the best class James. Don’t lie to yourself.” James had to stop walking for a moment to princess those words. It was unbelievable! His best friend didn’t like defense against the dark arts? He might have to revoke Sirius’ best friend title for that. 

They walked the rest of the way to class in silence. James was too shocked to say anything, and Sirius didn’t really want to be walking next to a ‘Potter’ to begin with. 

When they walked into the classroom, James took a deep breath and turned to Sirius. “I suppose I have to forgive you for what you said because I don’t want to sit alone. Now come on mate, we’ll miss the best seats otherwise.” Siri groaned but followed him anyway.

As the class started, James sat up straight and took vigorous notes, a first for him. Sirius just scoffed when he saw his bright smile and James ignored him for the rest of the period. The class ended too quickly for James and he resisted the urge to groan, if only to stop Siri from having more ammo on him. 

Granted, he did complain to his best friend and anyone who would listen to him about it being too short during their free period. When his best friend tried to run off, James just grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back down. There was nothing Siri could’ve done about it other than grumble and for that, James was extremely thankful.

When it was time for dinner, Sirius jumped out of his seat and ran all the way to the Great Hall. James was quite offended but he could understand where it came from.

James sat next to Peter for dinner and although it was pretty awkward at times, he could safely say Peter was a friend by the end of dinner. On the way up to their dormitory, he joked about multiple things and it was very satisfying to hear Sirius stop and bang his head on the wall after a particularly bad one.

Instead of bonding at night like James had hoped however, Remus and Sirius went straight to sleep. With only Peter left, James didn’t see the point and got ready for bed. 

Before he turned off the lights, he decided to shout at the boys one last time. “GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT, AND DON’T EVER LET THE PIXIES BITE!” Sirius jumped up and screamed, while James laughed until tears came streaming down.

“I think I can get used to this,” he said to no one as he lay down and closed his eyes, still grinning from Siri’s screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo. I'm not really happy with Lily's portrayal in this or the rushed ending of this chapter, but I'm really lazy so I'm not changing it. I'm also working on a Percy Jackson/ Avengers crossover and that's really sucking my brain dry. If you would be willing to try and read that story if I ever posted it, let me know in the comments. And, as always, have a great day everyone! :)


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a prank? i think so :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while y'all. I'm sorry. Please forgive me?

It had barely been over a month since school had started and Peter was already feeling in over his head. He knew he wasn’t the smartest person, but this was getting to be a little too much. All of his classes expected him to remember everything from his school books, which was impossible. It wasn’t a surprise to Peter when he began to fall behind.

So when the Ravenclaws behind him snickered at his failed 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘢, Peter just hunched his shoulders and tried not to cry in front of the whole class. That would almost be worse and would definitely give them more ammunition. 

Really, if it hadn’t been for James, he would’ve let it continue to slide. Peter still marveled that someone like James had become friends with someone like him. Lost in his own thoughts, Peter only caught the tailend of James’ rant.

“-deserve some payback!”

Peter frowned, slightly worried for his friend’s sanity. “Who needs payback?”

“Those bloody Ravenclaws of course! They’ve been absolutely horrible to you, and the only reason they haven’t been punished yet is because Flitwick’s their head of house. It’s up to us to get some revenge,” James said with a slightly constipated look that Peter assumed was his determined face.

“Are you sure?” Peter hesitantly asked. If they got in trouble his mother would make him do all the chores during winter break. Sometimes she even included cleaning out Enid’s bathroom. He repressed a shiver. Some things were better left unseen.

“Of course! The only question is 𝘩𝘰𝘸 we get revenge.” James went silent and Peter was too terrified to ask what he was thinking.

James must’ve seen something on Peter’s face and grinned slightly. “Don’t worry, we probably won’t get expelled.” This did not make Peter feel better in the slightest.

Peter decided to leave James’ planning be and work on the classwork. By the end of class, he managed to levitate the feather a few inches off the desk. James praised him, but all Peter could hear were the Ravenclaws’ snickers in the back of his head.

As they were walking to their next class, James stopped Peter and said earnestly, “Don’t worry Peter. We’ll make sure those bullies get what they deserve. They may be in Ravenclaw but they’re off their rocker if they think I’m letting this slide. You're my 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, Peter.”

Peter blushed. “Thank you James.”

“Of course! What are friends for?”

After James saw the injustice of what he called Charms class, he vowed to himself and to Peter to get even with the Ravenclaws. So far, the plan had not moved very far. Remus had been easy to commit to the plan of revenge. Apparently he was used to being the victim at Muggle schools and didn’t have many friends. James still didn’t know why. Remus was smart and kind; what was there to bully? However, he still had yet to convince Sirius to join in with the rest of them. 

After much thinking, James decided to confront Sirius at dinner. There was no way he would make a scene with everyone watching.

He let Sirius eat a few bites of bacon before he spoke. “Peter’s got a bunch of Ravenclaws bullying him. I know you don’t like when I annoy you but I’m not joking this time.”

Siri looked up. “Peter. He’s the pudgy boy in our dorm, correct?”

“Yes Sirius, he is. You’d think you would know this by now.” He resisted the urge to sigh and bang his head on the dining table. Only half of it was accomplished, as Siri raised one of his perfectly groomed eyebrows at him when he let out the sigh.

“Look Sirius. I just want you to come and help us prank the Ravenclaws so they can stop bullying Peter. That’s it.”

Sirius still looked suspicious. “If I do this, will I be forced to help you again?”

“No! I’d respect your choices, obviously.”

Sirius snorted and muttered, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, in a condescending tone. Then he let out a deep sigh and looked at Peter. He was slouched over his dinner and you could hear some of the Ravenclaws snickering as he took a big bite of food. James hoped this attempt would be enough. After all, Sirius was top of the class in Charms. There was no way James’ idea would work without him.

With all his thinking, James nearly missed Sirius’ reply. “𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦. I’ll do it. But this is just a one time thing. Don’t ask me again, got it?” James couldn’t help but think Sirius was trying to convince himself, but he didn't say anything.

“Great! Thank you so much Siri! You won’t regret this.”

Ignoring Sirius’ indignant cry of “don’t call me that Potter”, James turned to where Remus and Peter were sitting.

“Oi, you two! Siri’s agreed to help us in our cause.” They both grinned, though Remus looked a bit nervous at the mention of the prank.

With all of his friends ready to help Peter, James could hardly wait to be in the privacy of their dorm. To pass the time, he began to dig into some mouth-watering roast potatoes. Somehow they tasted exactly how his mother made them. He supposed it was part of Hogwarts’ magic.

After eating until he could no longer, James left with the rest of Gryffindor's first years to head back to their common room. As he looked around, he noticed that there were only four other first years for their house; Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily. They were by far the year's smallest house.

James called out the password when they reached the Fat Lady. "Fortem!"

The Fat Lady rolled her eyes. “Come on in then.” As they walked in James could hear her muttering about 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. He ignored her.

The four boys left Lily in the common room and headed up to their dorm. It was beginning to look much more lived in. James’ clothes were spread out around his bed and Peter had a few wrappers around his bin. Siri and Remus were both surprisingly neat. Once Remus came in, James closed the door.

“Welcome, gentlemen, to our planning room,” he began.

“You mean our dormitory?” 

“Shut up Siri. Just because you don’t really want to be here doesn’t mean you have to ruin it for everyone else.” 

“‘Scuse me James, but why are we here exactly? You never really explained it,” Remus said. 

James sighed. Apparently this would take longer than he thought. But before he could explain, he was interrupted. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

This time it was Peter. “Some Ravenclaws were making fun of me during Charms today. James has decided we need to take revenge.” After he spoke, he instantly shrank into himself, as if he would be in trouble for speaking.

James grinned. “Thank you Peter! Those Ravenclaws are bullies and they have to be stopped. Just because they’re the ones who were sorted into the smart house doesn’t mean they have the right to make fun of others. Besides, it’s not like they’re the best. Siri is at the top of that class.” With those words, Sirius blushed slightly. 

Remus frowned. “But if we get revenge by bullying them, doesn’t it make us as bad as them?”

“We’re not going to be bullying them. We’re just going to do a harmless, little prank. Trust me.”

Neither Sirius nor Remus looked convinced but they stayed silent. After waiting for a few moments, James clapped his hands together and grinned. It was a good thing they didn’t know him very well yet. If they had, there would’ve been a very large chance they would’ve walked away at his last words. And yet, they didn’t. They obviously knew James was a bit crazy and they still stayed. He was definitely going to count this as a personal win.

After taking a deep breath, he began. “Alright, so we know that this prank cannot be traced back to us. We’ll just get detention otherwise, and I doubt you want to be stuck there either.” A quick glance around his dorm showed his friends agreed. “Good. This prank needs to have some upper level charms involved to avoid detection. Besides, if they’re going to be making fun of Peter in Charms, we need to show them that they’re not too good themselves. That’s where you come in, Sirius. You’re the best in Charms for our year and you probably know many more spells than any of here combined. Any ideas?”

Siri blushed slightly at his compliment and shook his head. “I’m still not sure what kind of prank we’re going for, Potter. Besides, you have to have some vision in your mind already.”

“You’re right! I do.” James rubbed his hands together. “Here’s what I’m thinking…”

After multiple changes to the plan and wary bonding, they finally finished.

“So we’re in agreement here?” Sirius asked. “We’re all prepared to do this and risk the consequences?” James was a bit shocked at seeing Sirius so open and talkative to others, but he was not complaining. Without him, the prank would definitely fail. Besides, it would probably do Sirius some good to have more friends.

Everyone nodded. Remus sighed and put his head in his hands. “This is so stupid,” he muttered, with traces of obvious regret.

“If this prank wasn’t stupid, there’s no way this plan would work. We’re already lucky we have History of Magic with Ravenclaw and that Binns is the most boring teacher ever. Trust me, Re.”

Peter smiled at his words. “We already have James.”

“Good,” Siri said dismissively. “Now, let’s go to sleep. I’m knackered.”

As he got into bed, James looked at his watch. It’s hands seemed to shine and he was shocked to see it was already past 2. James snorted. He guessed that time really did fly when he was having fun. With that cheerful thought, he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

When James’ alarm rang in the morning, he groaned. It was too early for anything. Just as he turned over to go back to sleep, Peter pulled his covers down. Startled, he jumped up.

“What was that for Peter?” James yelped and betrayed.

Peter grimaced. “You’ve turned off your alarm 3 times already. Breakfast is over. You’re going to miss class if you turn it off again.”

James ran over to his trunk. “Why didn’t you tell me before? Oh Merlin! I missed breakfast?”

“We tried to get you out of bed. When you went back to sleep a second time, Sirius and Remus left to get food and start the prank.”

Hearing Peter talk about the prank made him get dressed even faster. There was no way he would miss this. If he hadn’t stayed up till 2 last night, he’d be ready. James bemoaned his bad habits as he and Peter ran down to the Great Hall to find Siri and Re.

As they ran into the Great Hall, they found Remus sitting next to Sirius. They were chatting and eating the bacon of others’ plates. If James didn’t know about the prank, he would’ve never noticed the glances they sent at the Ravenclaw table. It was too subtle for the untrained eye. Inwardly James smirked. The sorting hat had chosen well for Gryffindor this year.

Remus caught the sight of James and Peter. He nudged Sirius, who looked over. James grinned at both of them and nodded over at the first year Ravenclaws. 

‘Are you ready?’ he mouthed. Both of them gave James a small grin and walked over.

“Morning Peter,” Remus said, ignoring James and his affronted cry at being ignored. “Hope you’re ready for some revenge.”

Peter smiled slightly. “I’m still a bit terrified.”

James grinned. “At least one of us is. Now then, let’s get to class on time. We’ve got a little bit of 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 to do beforehand.” With a little wink, he turned and walked off to History of Magic. Nothing could distract him from this.

“You’re going the wrong way James,” Remus shouted. James blushed, and turned back to his friends. 

“Lead on then.”

They arrived to class with 10 minutes to spare. Somehow, they had managed to arrive before the Ravenclaws. The only person in the room was Lily Evans. James frowned. This had not come up in their late night planning. Who would distract their fellow classmate?

As if he had read James’ thoughts, Sirius leaned over and hissed, “You’re distracting the girl.” Before James could reply, Sirius carried on. “This is your plan, so you get this job. Besides, we both know Pettigrew and Lupin would tell her everything if they had the chance.” Knowing Siri was right, James nodded and walked over to Lily. The others walked to the back of the room where the books were.

When he sat down, Lily looked over and frowned. 

“What on earth are you doing?”

“It’s called sitting, Lily. Don’t muggles do it too?”

“You know what I mean, James. Why are you sitting next to me? You have enough friends to sit with one of them.”

James laughed nervously. Merlin, what was he supposed to say to her? Their plan would be ruined before it even started. “Well, I thought you could use the company of the best Gryffindor Hogwarts has ever seen.”

Lily frowned. “Am I supposed to believe that’s you?”

“Of course! What else will I be?”

“An arrogant toe rag for starters,” she muttered before turning back to her history book. 

James gaped. Behind him he heard some snickers, presumably from Sirius, which he ignored. How dare she say something like that? She didn’t even know him, how could she even think that he was arrogant.

He was shaken out of his moping when the Ravenclaws walked in right before class began. They sat down and Professor Binns began droning. Besides him, Lily had taken out some parchment and was furiously writing notes. Everything was normal and quiet.

Just as the ghost had finished talking about The Gargoyle Strike of 1911 and class was about to end, there was a rustle from the back of the room. James smirked. It was time for their payback.

James listened hard and was only just able to hear Sirius’ muttered words, “𝘍𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘶 𝘙𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴.” There was a beat and some more words were spoken. “𝘓𝘰𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘴.”

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the books at the back of the class began to fly towards the Ravenclaws. Once they had somehow found the Ravenclaws, they began to fly around in circles. Once the Ravenclaws began to notice them, they started to chant ‘Nerds’ over and over again. James snorted as he watched them frantically try and stop the books. Nothing they did worked. Looking back at his friends, he saw that Peter was laughing as well. Even Sirius and Remus had a grin on their faces. 

Next to him Lily gasped in shock and looked over at James. “What did you boys do?”

James smiled innocently at her. “What are you talking about? I’ve been next to you the entire time. Besides, do you really think any of us know that much advanced magic? We’re only in the first year for Godric’s sake!”

Lily looked back at the other boys. She scowled when she saw that they were all dutifully taking notes and turned back to James.

“I don’t like you, James Potter. And I definitely don’t trust you. I know you boys had something to do with this.”

James nodded. “Noted Evans. But trust me when I say that I don’t like you either. You didn’t even know the whole story and you’re already out to blame your own house. You’re just a stuck-up little goody two shoes.” He held out a hand to stop her from arguing. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go to Transfiguration and this time, I’ll be sitting with my friends.”

With that, James stood up and left class. He waited outside for his friends to come out, and grinned as he listened to the Ravenclaws’ shouts down the hall.

Once they were all out of the class, Peter stopped and hugged them all.

“Thanks guys. You have no idea how much this means to me.” 

Siri and Re nodded and James grinned. “Of course Pete! We’re friends. What else would we do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! You've read till the end. Are you still mad at me for not updating since June? *smiles nervously*  
For the record, I would like to say I'm sorry. I got caught in a bunch of stuff for school and it still hasn't stopped. It doesn't help that I had writer's block for a while.  
I would also like to do some maintenance on the story before I go into anything else. The spells used for the prank are my own creation. They're Latin for anyone wondering. This chapter was also cut in half for two reasons. 1- It was getting pretty long. 2- I was really fucking tired of writing chapter eight. So, the second half of the chapter will be coming out soon. It's going to be about Halloween so I'm hoping it'll be done by then. (No promises)  
Speaking of chapters, I'm sure you've noticed I've finally figured how many chapters there'll be in this book. 24! We're already a third of the way through and I could not be more thankful for all of y'all's support, comments, and kudos. Of course, do not fear - this story will be part of a series. Book one is year one and so forth.  
Finally, I have a few questions for y'all. You know how both James and Lily and Neville's parents defied the Dark Lord three times? Yeah, well I need some help coming up with said three times and I would love any help or ideas given!  
Now enough of this author's note. Hope you enjoyed and that you have a good night (or day)!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi and welcome to my first story! Thank you for reading it and this note. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This story will later become part of a series called Up To No Good. As you may have noticed, Sirius and Remus' point of views will be longer than the others. This is because this series is primarily a wolfstar fanfiction. Later on, the chapters will only have one or two point of views, not all four. Good day and see you at the next chapter! Please leave a comment to tell me how the story's going and what you would like to see. Thanks.


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